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Well, I just did a test to see what kind of percentages I would get out here in CA for S-Mint Memorials (1968-1974). Plus I wanted to see if I could pull enough to actually re-sell here in rolls etc. Here is what I came up with:

-Time spent: One hour.
-About 1565 coppers manually checked (previously double Ryedale sorted). Cu pennies weight was approx 10 lbs , therefore 145/lb)= 1450. Plus the 115 S-Mints that I manually pulled. Approx. 1450 + 115 = 1565.
-Percentage: 7.3% S-Mints

My thoughts: Well, I'm definitely finding a LOT more S-Mints here on the west coast, versus the east coast. So in that respect, I'm happy. Plus plenty of BU S-Mints that go in little 2x2 cards. HOWEVER, the lesson that I have learned is that it's not worth my time to pull them and re-sell them in rolls of 50, or bagged in large amounts (ie 1000-5000) for that matter. I think the going rate here is 3 cents each or $1.50/roll, for a total profit of $1.00 per roll. So at 115 S-Mints for one hour of my time, I make $3.45 minus $1.15 face/cost = $2.30 profit. Nope, not for me.

Then I was thinking that a further sort for premium/perfect (nice brown patina), non-dirty S-Mint pennies could yield me 3.5 cents per S-Mint, but that would still only be $1.75 per roll. Sigh. Oh well...it was worth a try though!! After all, you don't learn until you try, right???

Now if I could just create a Ryedale unit that digitally scans for Mint marks..........

Its been done here several times before. But have you calculated how much you might make for sorting pennies? It probably comes out to be about the same dollar amount per hour

I'm a hand sorter in the Los Angeles area and when I first began sorting I also considered setting aside all S-mints because I get a lot of them. But because of my eyesight I had to take the time to use a magnifying glass to distinguish some S's from D's so I decided to only take the time to closely look at the '70-s for the small date variety. But after investing the time to scrutinize the first couple hundred '70-S's I determined that was a waste of time as well so now I sort with no regard for S-mints whatsoever.

I get around 4.00 face from pennypicker's $50 bags, and yes, they are difficult to see without magnification.

i am still pulling the s. after 2 years i have a little over 100 fv. kind of holding them, like wheats. trying to get a box of each. it will take another 8 years as i only have 10 rolls of 68s.

Morsecode wrote:I get around 4.00 face from pennypicker's $50 bags, and yes, they are difficult to see without magnification.

Rob, you know more about my $50 bags than I do...and I did the sorting!

Right about what I told you.. 5-7% of the copper are S mint here. You should use the counter rather than the scale to be more accurate. I think there are 150 coppers per pound. I once got a negative from an eBay buyer because he didn't think there were enough S mints in the bag.

Really? That sucks.
I estimated it, based on 3.11 grams. OK, so I still have the piles separated, so I will high-speed count them tomorrow night after work and let you know the exact count.

Soooo...the final percentage...what will it be??? 5%? 6%? 6.5%? 7%? 7.5%? Place your bets! Place your bets!

Just finished counting the actual numbers. So it was...

1522 Cu pennies counted with the high speed sorter (not including my S-mints). Add 1522 + 115 S-Mints = 1637 total. So...115/1637= (drum roll).....7.02%